New York forward Carmelo Anthony led the East with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Miami guard Dwyane Wade had 21 points and seven assists, and Heat teammate LeBron James had 19 points.

But it was point guard Chris Paul who stole the show Sunday. He became the first Los Angeles Clippers player to be named MVP after posting 20 points, 15 assists and four steals.

Only two other players have registered 20 and 15 in the All-Star game: Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas.

"Pretty special," said Paul, whose 12.4 assists average is the highest in All-Star history. "I think for me in games like this, it's up-tempo, it's fast-paced. You just want to play fast. I like to throw the lob. I like to see guys hit 3s.

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"When we're out on the court with all that firepower, why wouldn't you want to make passes? You've got (Durant) filling one of the lanes. You've got Blake. Kobe (Bryant) on the wing. There's nothing like it."

Lee played a minor role in the first half. He was the last player off the bench for the West, checking into the game with 9:23 left in the second quarter. His first stint lasted three minutes, 45 seconds.

He got on the board at the 7:56 mark by dropping in a finger roll after he cut down the lane and Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook slipped him a pass. Then with just over six minutes left, he laid in an alley-oop pass from Paul, tying the game at 48.

With 5:38 left, Bryant came in for Lee, who was done for the half.

But Lee got a much longer stint in the second half -- made possible largely because West coach Gregg Popovich benched the Lakers' Dwight Howard the rest of the game after he drilled a step-back 3-pointer with 8:52 left in the third quarter.

Lee checked back in the game with 5:27 left and almost immediately made his mark. After corralling a loose ball, his outlet pass hit referee Rodney Mott in the back and went out of bounds, drawing a laugh from Lee and the fans.

Lee, however, was part of the unit that took control of the game in the third quarter. On the court with San Antonio's Tony Parker, Houston's James Harden and Westbrook -- noted chuckers -- Lee got just two looks at the basket in the second half.

He missed a layup inside, contested by Bulls center Joakim Noah, with 2:46 left in the third. Then about two minutes later, he was trailing in transition when Parker hit him for a driving two-hand dunk. The West led 108-104 entering the fourth quarter.

With Lee still on the floor, the West opened the fourth quarter with an 11-5 run to go up 119-109. When Lee checked out for good, with 7:47 left in the game, the East had cut the lead to 119-115.

The game was enticingly close all night. Highlights were aplenty as the teams traded dunks, dimes and 3-pointers. But in the final minutes, the West clamped down and pulled away.

Anthony got a tip-in with just under four minutes left to pull the East to within 129-126. But the West put together a 10-2 run to change the tenor of the game, starting with a 3-pointer by Paul, a layup by Bryant and a breakaway dunk by Durant.

After two free throws by Anthony, Paul -- defended way out on the left wing by Noah -- drilled another 3-pointer. Just like that, the West was up 139-128 with 1:57 remaining.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Indiana's Paul George gave the East a fighting chance, cutting deficit to five with 1:19 left.

James had a chance to get it closer, but he had the ball knocked away by Bryant. On the ensuing fast-break, Griffin sent a jolt through the Toyota Center by throwing it off the backboard to himself for a thunderous two-hand dunk.

James got the ball again and went into the post. But Bryant thwarted him again, blocking James' 5-footer.

"Sometimes the best thing to do is sit back and watch," Lee said. "In a timeout, with minutes to go, the focus of a guy like Kobe Bryant was very evident. The entire team in there was very focused, knew what they wanted to get accomplished. I think you saw the fourth quarter defense pick up, and that's why we won the game."

Durant, the 2012 MVP, became the first player to score 30 points in three straight All-Star games. ... James moved into fifth place on the all-time All-Star scoring list. His 226 points trail Bryant (280), Michael Jordan (262), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (251) and Oscar Robertson (246). ... The East made 14 3-pointers, tying the record set last year.